The Conlan School Course Guide demonstrates the broad range of study programmes we can offer you and your students. Through our ever growing network of contacts in the business and educational community, our aim is to provide experiences that will expand knowledge and increase confidence within the culture of Wales and the UK. We hope that during your time with us you and your students can progress personally and positively in every aspect of life!

This year some of our groups have had the opportunity to visit the RSPB Conwy, a society that is saving threatened birds and wildlife across the UK and overseas. The RSPB was an all-female group formed to counter the barbarous trade in plumes for women's hats but nowadays it has a lot of volunteers and is trying to tackle wildlife crime and habitat loss and champion the cause of biodiversity and conservation within the wider debate on sustainable development.
One of the RSPB’s objectives is to get young people outside and experiencing nature first-hand and to instill a love of nature in the students through the natural resources and activities.
This magnificent place is perfect to stay in touch with animals, because the birds aren’t the only inhabitants! As well as beautiful birds, there are also fascinating flowers, graceful deer, delicate damselflies and stately trees, to name but a few...
Our groups have visited several times this year and they have had workshops with experts, watched birds from bird hides, walked close to nature, seen rare newts in the ponds and, above all, relaxed. We appreciate all the expertise of the staff and hope to encourage more students to visit the wonderful reserve in the future.

Glyndwr University

Many of our groups this year have had the opportunity to visit Glyndwr University in Wrexham. This University had been a member of the University of Wales since 2003 and since 2008 has been granted full independent university status. There is a full range of courses available and we have been fortunate to visit many of these departments for some wonderful workshops organised by Joy Brereton who works with schools as the Partnership Coordinator. Liceo Scientifico “A. Gramsci” visited a research facility where the largest telescope in the world is being developed and saw solar panels being researched; after that the Istituto Giuseppe Peano had a workshop on Bilingualism at their main campus; recently, our child minding group Liceo Delle Scienze Umane visited the university’s nursery and finally our accountants met with a very experienced lecturer for an interactive workshop and talk. The standards of professionalism, expertise and kindness have been exceptional across the board so we extend our thanks. I imagine that Glyndwr is much talked about within the Tuscan schools since their visits and we hope to visit again in the future.

English in North Wales: educational experiences in local schools and colleges.

English in North Wales is a teaching and learning initiative between a group of schools, colleges and universities based in North Wales whose purpose it is to encourage the learning of the English language.
This network of education organizations consists of accredited establishments that base their programmes on the best quality standards in their field.
The initiative aims to satisfy the ever-growing demand for linguistic knowledge, be it to improve skills useful in the world of work or to complete one’s essential cultural background.
The synergy between the various partners of this project makes it possible to offer a wide range of English language study holidays that ally top quality and high competence as well as being economically sustainable.

A few schools that we have welcomed this year have been doing business-related courses with us, for example ISIS “Galileo Galilei” did Accountancy, ITCT “Piaggia” studied Business and IT, IISS Antonio Pesenti did IT and E-Commerce and ITC Cattaneo focused on the business side of the slow food industry. So we needed to find material for our classes that was of a good standard and also interactive and focused on speaking and listening as communication practice is a key focus for all of our groups. The Market Leader’s range of Business English books has always been good, but now they have released a third edition, so they have all been updated to keep pace with the change in trends and technology. Their Pre-Intermediate book has been particularly useful to us with the average level of our students being between A2 and B1. The books organise material around business topics and each one includes vocabulary, skills practice, listening and discussion elements as well as some grammar and reading, and what is particularly good is the case study for each unit that gives students an opportunity to tackle a real-life situation, talking in groups and reaching decisions and conclusions. This range of books is definitely a well organised and educational resource that has been of real use to our teachers and of benefit to the students.

Make hay while the sun shines

This proverb has medieval origins and it’s reasonable to think that the phrase is of English Tudor origin. It was used by the farmers and is a testament to their wisdom. In the past, when people couldn’t use modern machinery to make hay, it was very important to follow several timetables because they could do this work only while the sun shines. Tudor farmers would have taken several days to cut, dry and gather their hay and would have had only folk rhymes like red sky at night to guide them. Forecasting the weather two or three days in advance wouldn’t have been possible, so all the more reason for them to ‘make hay while the sun shines’. Nowadays this wise proverb is used also in everyday life, to encourage people not to miss their opportunities and keep working while the going is good, taking advantage of good luck. The equivalent proverb in Latin is carpe diem and is used to say: capture the moment!